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There were clear winners and losers in the energy space after the Commerce Department eased 40-year restrictions on exporting ultra light crude oil. Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) rallied 5 percent and Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) gained more than 1 percent. The two are oil producers who were given the green light to export.

Monsanto's (MON) earnings fell for the quarter but the world's largest seed producer expects earnings to double over the next five years and investors liked what they heard sending the stock 5 percent higher.

Another top gainer on the day was Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) up almost 3 percent. It ended a late-phase trial of a skin cancer drug that was very promising. Other pharmaceutical stocks were among the top gainers on the Dow. Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) both gained more than 1.5 percent.

And finally, online children clothing site Zulily (ZU) had a great day. It rallied 9 percent on an upgrade from Goldman Sachs (GS).

-Produced by Karina Huber.

What to Watch Thursday:

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, and the Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for May.

Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates at 10 a.m.

These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial statements:

Eliminating your mortgage is one of the best ways to make retirement more affordable because it removes a sizable monthly bill. While you'll still have to pay taxes and maintenance costs for your home, those expenses are likely to be a fraction of your mortgage payments.

Once your children are independent, you will likely no longer need a several-bedroom house in a good school district with a large yard that can be expensive to maintain. Consider downsizing to a smaller home in a less-expensive neighborhood, and add the proceeds of the sale to your nest egg.

Where you live plays a big role in how much you pay for food, taxes and a variety of other services. Moving to an area where the cost of living is significantly less could allow you to spend down your retirement savings more slowly.

If you and your spouse commuted to separate places each day, it is likely that you each needed a car. In retirement, you might be able to get by with one car, thus eliminating the insurance, gas and maintenance costs of the second vehicle. In walkable communities with good public transportation, you may even be able to get by without a car in retirement.

In retirement, income tax will be due on withdrawals from traditional 401(k) and individual retirement accounts, but you can space out your withdrawals to avoid a hefty tax bill in a single year. Prepaying income tax on some of your retirement savings using a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) allows you to avoid a big tax bill in retirement.

Investing in high-cost funds reduces your return. Minimizing investment costs is especially important for retirees who are living off income from their portfolio. In this case, selecting the lowest-cost funds that meet your investment needs translates to more money in your pocket.

There are significant penalties if you withdraw money from your retirement account too soon or too late. There is also a reduction in benefits if you sign up for Social Security early, and a late enrollment penalty if you delay signing up for Medicare Parts B and D. Pay attention to important retirement deadlines to avoid paying more than you need to.

Health care is likely to be one of the biggest and least predictable costs you will face in retirement. But there are some things you can do to control your health costs. Consider purchasing a supplemental policy to Medicare to fill in some of the gaps and cost-sharing requirements traditional Medicare doesn't cover. Also, shop for a new Medicare Part D plan every year to make sure you are getting coverage for your medications at the best price.

Retirees have the luxury of being able to travel whenever they want. Traveling is often less expensive if you avoid major holidays and school breaks, and most tourist destinations will also be less crowded.

One of the major perks of growing older is getting discounts at movies, museums and restaurants. While some senior discounts are well-publicized and open to everyone old enough to have an AARP card, others are available only to those who ask. A little research can add up to big savings if you’re willing to admit your age.

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cameltoes_david

The dumbing down of America is working, this post has one comment other than mine, people are missing the boiling pot of water that killed the frog. In America today people would rather see a baby bump on a so called star, or read about dirty laundry on another so called star than read about the true cause of our problems and that is jobs that we never hear about anymore. I'm sure our leaders will be stumping on another lie in the next few months about creating new jobs.